By Joshua Kato and Umar Nsubuga
Christmas is less than two months away. And one of the fastest moving products during this season is chicken, chicken and more chicken!
While people in rural areas eat indigenous chicken that they have kept over time, urban consumers, who are the biggest buyers, go for broilers and off-layers.
In major Kampala markets, including Kalerwe, Wandegeya, Nakawa and Nateete, thousands of broilers are sold between December 22-25.
“We sell an average of 2,500 broilers in this market alone,” John Wasswa, a chicken dealer in Kalerwe Market, Kampala, says.
Overall, according to a non-scientific survey by this writer, an estimated 30,000 broilers are sold across the major Kampala markets during the festive season.
Upcountry cities such as Jinja, Mbarara, Mbale, Gulu and Arua too consume broilers, but not in as large numbers as Kampala.
Stock now
Joseph Muwanga, a chicken farmer in Lwadda A zone, Matugga in Wakiso district, says this is the time to stock chickens, especially broilers.
He says if any farmer stocks them now and manages them well, the broiler will weigh 1.5-1.8kg in five to six weeks.
“Its average price at the farm is about sh15,000, while retailers sell it at sh20,000. If you bought 500 birds and remained with 450 sold at sh15,000, you have like sh6.7m,” he says.
Muwanga adds that if you deduct the costs you used to run the project, such as buying the feeds, which could be sh4m, costs on water, which could be sh150,000, you may get a profi t of about sh2m.
The average cost of a day-old broiler is sh2,500, according to Robert Serwanga, the director of Agrarian Systems, who is a poultry farmer and trainer at the Harvest Money Expo.
This means that if you are stocking 500, you need at least sh1.25m. Each of the broilers will consume at most 5kg of feed in its lifetime. The average cost of the feed is sh1,700 per kilogramme. This means that you need to stock about 2,500kg of assorted feeds.
“With broilers, because they eat a lot in a short period of time, farmers must have a proper feeding plan. Remember that if you do not feed them well, they will not attain the required weights,” Sserwanga says.
Space required
One needs a room measuring about 20x20ft for the chicks, according to Charles Lule, a carpenter.
“Spacing is 10-14 chicks per square metre,” he says.
Muwanga says 10-15 drinkers are enough for 500 birds because 40 birds can use one drinker. Drinkers cost sh15,000–sh20,000, totalling sh190,000-sh200,000. Five hundred birds require 25 feeders, with each costing sh10,000.
Brooding, vaccination
Before stocking, it is important to plan for a brooder, where these chicks have to first be kept.
“A brooder is a secluded space, provided with warmth to help the chicks survive coldness. The warmth can be provided by brooding heaters, stoves or pots.
“You can use cardboard or wood to create space in one part of the chicken house. Use sawdust on the floor to maintain warmth,” Sserwanga says.
He also advises that the chicks must be vaccinated before they are stocked. They are mainly vaccinated against Newcastle disease.
Below are insights on where a farmer can look to sell his mature birds during the Christmas season.
Informal markets
These markets are predominantly found in a typical rural setting, according to Madina Lunkuse, a poultry farmer in Namugongo, Kira division in Wakiso district.
“This type of marketing is driven by the need to get income to settle a one-off financial need. A farmer can, for example, sell chicken by the roadside,” she explains.
Other informal markets include setting up a stall near your home to sell the chicken, hiring a pickup truck and then driving around the locality to sell the chicken, and moving house-to-house to tell your neighbours about your chicken.
Secondary markets
These markets are situated in Kampala, other cities and towns, where traders often come with truckloads of chicken, bought from poultry farmers.
Here, chickens are sold according to size, age and appearance through negotiation between the sellers and buyers.
These markets still serve the largest share of urban consumers, although there is now a significant rise in the number of customers who prefer local chicken, especially among the high-income earners segment.
Doris Kairu, an indigenous poultry farmer, says local chicken is ready for consumption in four to six months.
“So, if a farmer intends to sell during Christmas, the chicken should have been hatched no earlier than May 2023,” she says.
However, for traders who wish to earn during Christmas by selling local chicken, the biggest source is in the Teso and Lango sub-regions.
Secondary markets continue to be the main source of chickens for festive seasons such as Christmas when bulk purchases are made.
It is also observed that a significant proportion of the chicken meat consumed at functions such as weddings and anniversary celebrations comes from these markets.
In this market, however, dressed chicken has a competitive edge because it is perceived as high quality.
Another advantage is that since shopping habits are shifting towards buying groceries from supermarkets, dressed chicken can be packed in such an appealing way that consumers are enticed by it.
Packaging should be bright, with clear names of the farm or company, weight, nutritional benefi ts and easy to carry.
Urban markets
These are in large towns and cities. They are situated in designated areas where makeshift stalls are erected.
Suppliers to such markets are often traders who buy chickens from the primary and secondary markets and distribute them to urban trading centres, hotels and restaurants.
Before the advent of dressed chicken on the market, consumption of chicken was mainly catered for by the urban market traders, but their chicken lacked consistency with regards to availability, quality and price.
